Linking a context environment to a context service

ABSTRACT

A contextual services delivery system that may deliver different contextual services to a smartphone and/or a POS terminal in response to a context environment, which can provide a user with a customized contextual services experience. In one embodiments, the system may be configured to identify a mobile device of a user entering a store location based on a POS terminal detecting the mobile device. The system can cause a display of an inventory of products for the store location and receive a selection of a product. A payment amount for the product can be displayed on the mobile device. An additional product can be selected based on a context characteristic of the product. An update for the additional product can be displayed on the mobile device. An acceptance of the additional product from the mobile device can be received. The payment amount is modified at the POS terminal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, claims priority to and thebenefit of, U.S. Ser. No. 14/318,091 filed Jun. 27, 2014 and entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTEXTUAL SERVICES EXPERIENCE,” which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for deliveringcustomer contextual services experiences, and more specifically,delivering customer contextual services experiences based at least inpart on a context environment.

BACKGROUND

Typical point-of-sale systems may provide purchase amount informationand a mechanism for swiping a payment card. However, these point-of-salesystems typically present the same user experience regardless of thecustomer context environment.

Typical customer promotions are delivered independently of customertransactions by mass mailing, or by electronic advertising. Thesecustomer promotions also typically require a customer to locate thepromotion, remember its terms, and manually request it to be applied toa transaction at the point-of-sale.

SUMMARY

A system, method, and computer readable medium (collectively, the“System”) for administering contextual services experiences may includea services repository having a database of contextual services and acontextual services delivery module. The contextual services deliverymodule may have a merchant linkage database having directives indicatingwhich of the contextual services to provide, in response to a contextenvironment. The contextual services delivery module may also have acontext database having context characteristics representing the contextenvironment.

The contextual services delivery module may further include a contextualservices delivery processor configured to identify the contextenvironment in response to the context characteristics and to providethe executed contextual services from the services repository inresponse to the directives.

The services repository may be communicates with the contextual servicesdelivery module, and the contextual services delivery module may providea user with a contextual services experience, in response to the contextenvironment. The contextual services delivery system may also have anetwork configured to communicate with a smartphone.

The contextual services delivery system may also have a networkconfigured to communicate with a point of sale terminal. Moreover, thecontextual services may include transactional services, displayservices, and authentication services. The transactional services mayinclude a delivery of inventory data, an offer of sale, a sale of agood, and a proposed discount. The display services may include atextual information presentation, a graphical information presentation,and an invitation to complete a transaction via a smart phone and/or aPOS terminal.

In various embodiments, the authentication services may includemechanisms of confirming a user identity such as biometricauthentication (e.g., fingerprinting), a payment card swipe, a pinnumber, an identification photograph, and a user location.

The context characteristics may include information provided by thirdparties such as merchants, social media, credit reporting agencies,and/or payment processors. The context characteristics may includeinternal data such as a risk analysis of a user, stores visited by theuser, a transaction history of the user, a date and time oftransactions, an amount of spend per transaction, a frequency oftransactions, a number of transactions, and a categorization oftransactions. The context environment may include triggers comprising auser location and a user payment status.

A method of consummating a transaction between a user and a merchant isalso disclosed. The method may include evaluating, by a merchant linkingengine, a merchant linkage database in response to a customer selectinga product, wherein the selecting includes a context characteristic of acontext environment. The method also may include identifying, by themerchant linking engine, whether the context environment links to amerchant service and applying, by a promotions engine, a promotion inresponse to the identifying. Moreover, the method may includedetermining, by a settlement engine, a payment amount for the product,distributing, by a distribution engine, a payment amount to the user,and receiving, by a settlement engine, a transaction authenticationcomprising a user fingerprint. Finally, the method may includeprocessing, by the settlement engine, the transaction in response thereceiving, and transmitting, by the distribution engine, a transactionconfirmation.

The method may include transmitting, via the distribution engine, thepayment amount to a smartphone, and transmitting, via the distributionengine, the payment amount to a POS terminal.

The method may include distributing, via the distribution engine, adiscount offer to at least one of: a smartphone or a point-of-saleterminal, receiving, via the distribution engine, an acceptance of thediscount offer, storing, via the promotions engine, the acceptance ofthe discount offer, and applying, via the settlement engine, thediscount offer to the payment amount in response to the storing.

The method may include distributing, via the distribution engine, anupsell opportunity to at least one of: a smartphone or a point-of-saleterminal, receiving, via the distribution engine, an acceptance of theupsell opportunity, storing, via the promotions engine, the acceptanceof the upsell opportunity, and distributing, via the distributionengine, a modified payment amount in response to the storing.

The method may also include distributing, via the distribution engine, adiscount offer to at least one of: a smartphone or a point-of-saleterminal, distributing, via the distribution engine, an upsellopportunity to at least one of: a smartphone or a point-of-saleterminal, receiving, via the distribution engine, an acceptance of thediscount offer, receiving, via the distribution engine, an acceptance ofthe upsell opportunity, storing, via the promotions engine, theacceptance of the discount offer, storing, via the promotions engine,the acceptance of the upsell opportunity, applying, via the distributionengine, the discount offer to the payment amount in response to thestoring, and distributing, via the distribution engine, a modifiedpayment amount in response to the storing.

The method may further include identifying, via the promotions engine, aplurality of transaction accounts in response to the identifying, andreceiving, via a settlement engine, a transaction account choicecomprising a selected transaction account from among the plurality oftransaction accounts. The processing may further include applying thetransaction against the selected transaction account in response thereceiving.

The foregoing features and elements may be combined in variouscombinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated hereinotherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation of thedisclosed embodiments will become more apparent in light of thefollowing description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter of the present disclosure is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. Amore complete understanding of the present disclosure, however, may beobtained by referring to the detailed description and claims whenconsidered in connection with the drawing figures, wherein like numeralsdenote like elements.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating various system components of acontextual services delivery system, in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating various system components of acontextual services delivery processor, in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a process flow for initializing a user session priorto delivering services, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a process flow for executing a transaction, inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a process flow for executing a transaction anddelivering an offer, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a process flow for executing a transaction anddelivering an upsell, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a process flow for allowing card selection andexecuting a transaction, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings and pictures, which show variousembodiments by way of illustration. While these various embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodimentsmay be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustrationonly and not of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of themethod or process descriptions may be executed in any order and are notlimited to the order presented. Moreover, any of the functions or stepsmay be outsourced to or performed by one or more third parties.Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, andany reference to more than one component may include a singularembodiment.

With reference to FIG. 1A, a context environment 18 may include the userlocation, such as whether a user is located at a POS terminal 16,whether a user has just entered a store, and/or a user's general orspecific location within a store. The context environment 18 may includea user payment status (e.g., whether a user has swiped a payment card,or authorized a payment on a smartphone 14), may include whether a userhas opened an application on a smartphone 14, may include whether a userhas scanned a product SKU, and/or any other information regarding theactions of a user. The context environment 18 comprises anycharacteristic related to the user, and/or historical information, andmay include a past transaction by the user, and/or a potential futuretransaction by the user. Some or all of the context environment data maybe stored in the context database 10.

In various embodiments, and with reference to FIG. 1A, a contextualservices delivery system 2 may comprise a point-of-sale terminal (“POS”or “POS terminal”) 16, a smartphone 14, a network 12, a servicesrepository 4, and a contextual services delivery module 3 comprising amerchant linkage database 8, a contextual services delivery processor 6,and a context database 10. POS terminal 16 may be in communication withand/or operatively coupled to (e.g., in “logical communication” with)contextual services delivery module 3 via network 12. Similarly,smartphone 14 may be in communication with and/or operatively coupled tocontextual services delivery module 3 via network 12.

Network 12 may be any suitable payment network including, for example,the Internet, the American Express® Network, the Visa® network, theMasterCard® network, the Discover® card network, and/or the like. Inthis regard, network 12 may be configured to receive transactioninformation from POS terminal 16 and/or smartphone 14 and/or an entitycapable of gathering transaction information from POS terminal 16 and/orsmartphone 14. Moreover, network 12 may be configured to facilitate thecommunications of the transaction information from POS terminal 16and/or smartphone 14 to the contextual services delivery module 3 insubstantially real time. In this regard, network 12 may be capable ofand/or configured to facilitate an authorization of a transactioninitiated at POS terminal 16 and/or smartphone 14. In variousembodiments, network 12 may include at least a portion of POS terminal16 and/or smartphone 14 and/or contextual services delivery module 3, orat least a portion of the functions of POS terminal 16 and/or smartphone14 and/or contextual services delivery module 3.

Phrases similar to a “contextual services delivery system” (e.g.,contextual services delivery system 2) may include a company (e.g., athird party) appointed (e.g., by a merchant) to handle transactions (a“payment processor”). A payment processor may include an issuer,acquirer, authorizer, network 12 and/or any other system or entityinvolved in the transaction process, and/or at least a portion of thefunctions of such entities. Payment processors may be broken down intotwo types: front-end and back-end. Front-end payment processors haveconnections to various transaction accounts and supply authorization andsettlement services to the merchant banks' merchants. Back-end paymentprocessors accept settlements from front-end payment processors and, viaThe Federal Reserve Bank, move money from an issuing bank to themerchant bank. In an operation that will usually take a few seconds, thepayment processor will both check the details received by forwarding thedetails to the respective account's issuing bank or card association forverification, and may carry out a series of anti-fraud measures againstthe transaction. Additional parameters, including the account's countryof issue and its previous payment history, may be used to gauge theprobability of the transaction being approved. In response to thepayment processor receiving confirmation that the transaction accountdetails have been verified, the information may be relayed back to themerchant, who will then complete the payment transaction. In response tothe verification being denied, the payment processor relays theinformation to the merchant, who may then decline the transaction.

Phrases similar to a “payment gateway” or “gateway” may include anapplication service provider service that authorizes payments fore-businesses, online retailers, and/or traditional brick and mortarmerchants. The gateway may be the equivalent of a physical point of saleterminal located in most retail outlets. A payment gateway may protecttransaction account details by encrypting sensitive information, such astransaction account numbers, to ensure that information passes securelybetween the customer and the merchant and also between merchant andpayment processor.

In various embodiments, a user may be capable of interacting with POSterminal 16, network 12, and/or a smartphone 14. For example, a user mayinteract with POS terminal 16 (e.g., a merchant, a website, an app, avirtual point of sale, a physical point of sale, an iPad® having aninstalled app, and/or the like) to initiate a transaction. Similarly, auser may interact with smartphone 14 to initiate a transaction.Moreover, a user may interact with a POS terminal 16 and/or a smartphone14 to settle a transaction, fund a transaction, or otherwise communicatewith the contextual services delivery module 3, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, a user may interact with a contextual servicesdelivery system 2 by registering with a payment processor, or network12, or the contextual services delivery processor 6. In operation,payment processor or network 12, or the contextual services deliveryprocessor 6 may be capable and/or configured to facilitate authorizationand/or settlement of transactions by analyzing information from POSterminal 16 and/or smartphone 14, as well as other information availableat the contextual services delivery processor 6. However, networks maynot be capable of and/or configured to monitor, track, record, and/orcount the number of transactions associated with a particular user.Moreover, the transaction information communicated between a point ofsale and payment processor may not be sufficient to particularlyidentify a user by a network.

In various embodiments, contextual services delivery module 3 and/ornetwork 12 may be capable of providing a contextual services experience.In this manner, the contextual services delivery system 2 provides acontextual services experience to users. For simplicity, the disclosurewill discuss operations by contextual services delivery module 3, butone skilled in the art will appreciate that network 12 may perform oneor more of the functions.

In various embodiments and with continuing reference to FIG. 1A, a POSterminal 16 may comprise a computer, a tablet, for example, an iPad®, aterminal, or any other device or system whereby a transaction may beinitiated. For example, a POS may comprise any device, interface, ormerchant, a website, an app, a virtual point of sale, or a physicalpoint of sale. A POS terminal 16 may have various different input andoutput capabilities. For example, a POS terminal 16 may comprise aplain-text display, may comprise a graphical display, or may comprise arich audio-visual user interaction mechanism.

A smartphone 14 may comprise a portable device whereby a user mayinteract with the contextual services delivery module 3. For example, asmartphone 14 may comprise a phone, a tablet, for example, an iPad®, alaptop, or any other suitable electronic device. In various embodiments,a smartphone 14 comprises an iPhone®, a Blackberry®, a device running anAndroid® operating system, a Nokia® phone, a Windows® phone, or anyother data access and/or telephony device.

A services repository 4 may be communicates with the contextual servicesdelivery module 3. The services repository 4 may comprise a databasecontaining contextual services comprising instructions which, whenexecuted by the contextual services delivery processor 6 of thecontextual services delivery module 3, cause the contextual servicesdelivery processor 6 to deliver various different contextual servicesexperiences to a smartphone 14 and/or a POS terminal 16. A contextualservices experience may comprise any combination of contextual services.A services repository 4 may comprise contextual services comprisingtransactional services, display services, and authentication services.In this manner, a user's interactions with a smartphone 14 and/or a POSterminal 16 may be customized.

Finally, as mentioned previously, a contextual services delivery system2 may comprise a contextual services delivery module 3 configured todeliver a contextual services experience to a user via a smartphone 14and/or a POS terminal 16. A contextual services delivery module 3 maycomprise a merchant linkage database 8, a contextual services deliveryprocessor 6, and a context database 10. A contextual services deliverymodule 3 may identify a context environment 18 and may deliver acontextual services experience comprising contextual services fromservices repository 4 to a smartphone 14 and/or a POS terminal 16, inresponse to a context environment 18, and in accordance with variousmethods.

A merchant linkage database 8 may comprise a public or privaterepository of information provided by a merchant. For example, amerchant may wish to provide various types of users with variouscontextual services experiences. The merchant linkage database 8 maycomprise instructions (“directives”) indicating which contextualservices from services repository 4 to provide to deliver a contextualservices experience, in response to different context environments 18.The merchant linkage database 8 may be in electronic and/or logicalcommunication with the contextual services delivery processor 6. Thus,the merchant linkage database 8 may be said to contain records oflinkages between different context characteristics (from contextdatabase 10) and different contextual services (from services repository4) and may be accessed by the contextual services delivery processor 6,for example, in order to determine which contextual services experienceto provide in response to different context environments 18. Moreover,the contextual services experience may be delivered in real time orsubstantially real time. For instance, the contextual servicesexperience may be delivered in response to a present context environment18. Furthermore, the directive may comprise dynamic instructions todeliver a contextual services experience in response to a presentcontext environments 18 with consideration for past context environments18, past contextual services delivered, and/or past consumer responses,for example, whether a consumer entered a transaction, accepted/rejectedan offer and/or upsell, and the like. Thus, the merchant linkagedatabase 8 may comprise directives comprising machine learninginstructions. Similarly, the context environment 18 may be said to bepath-dependent, for example, it may account for previous contextenvironments 18 and/or consumer behaviors.

A context database 10 may comprise a public or private repository ofinformation provided by various sources. A context database 10 maycomprise stored context characteristics. For example, a context database10 may comprise information provided by third parties such as merchants,social media, credit reporting agencies, payment processors, andinternal data (e.g., risk analysis, analytics, name of stores visited bydifferent users, and transaction history). The context database 10 maycomprise context characteristics, such as transactions, and dataregarding transactions (e.g., location, date, and time of transaction),present location, past location, proximity sensing data, such asiBeacon® data, amount spent, merchant, frequency of transactions, numberof transactions, transaction categorizations, etc.

For example, context characteristics may comprise an activity in asocial media channel (e.g., a Tweet). Examples of social media channelsinclude Facebook®, Foursquare®, Twitter®, My Space®, LinkedIn®, and thelike. In response to activity in the social media channel, variouscontext characteristics may be stored, for example, an individual'scomments in a social media channel toward a particular retailer. Forexample, an individual who comments about retailers in a particularmarket segment may be of interest to other retailers in that same marketsegment, and thus this activity may be of interest to store as contextcharacteristics. Similarly, context characteristics may comprise anactivity in an entertainment channel (e.g., xBox®) or a review channel(e.g., TripAdvisor®), or activity in a reservation channel (e.g.,OpenTable®), or may comprise any activity or combination of activities.

Some or all of the information comprising a context environment 18 maybe stored in the context database 10 for access by the contextualservices delivery processor 6. It may also be said that some or all ofthe information comprising a context environment 18 may be provided by asmartphone 14 and/or a POS terminal 16 and stored in the contextdatabase 10. The context database 10 may communicate with the contextualservices delivery processor 6. Thus, the contextual services deliveryprocessor 6 may access the context database 10 to identify differentcontext characteristics in order to provide various types of users withvarious contextual services (and thus various contextual servicesexperiences).

A contextual services delivery system 2 may operate within a contextenvironment 18. A context environment 18 comprises various potentialtriggers (e.g., user location, proximity sensing data, such as iBeacon®data, payment status, transaction, past user behavior, past contextenvironments 18, past contextual services delivered to a user, pastcontextual services delivery system 2 operations of any sort, past userbehavior following the delivery of past contextual services, past userbehavior following the delivery of past contextual services in view ofpast context environments 18, and the like) that, upon detection,trigger the contextual services delivery system 2 to execute variousmethods.

Thus, the contextual services delivery module 3 may deliver contextualservices from a services repository 4 to a smartphone 14 and/or a POSterminal 16, in response to processing by a contextual services deliveryprocessor 6, wherein context characteristics from a context database 10are assessed in comparison to a merchant linkage database 8. In responseto a context environment 18 triggering the contextual services deliverymodule 3 to deliver contextual services, the contextual servicesdelivery module 3 may determine a correspondence between data from thecontext database 10 with an instruction from a merchant linkage database8 corresponding to this data and directing the provision of variousservices. Thus, the contextual services delivery processor 6 may providevarious services to the smartphone 14 and/or the POS terminal 16.

In further embodiments, the contextual services delivery module 3 maydeliver contextual services based on a determined correspondence whichincorporates and/or is responsive to machine learning directives aspreviously discussed. For example, the correspondence may account forpast context environments 18, past contextual services from a servicesrepository 4 delivered by the contextual services delivery module 3,external data, such as past consumer purchases or past consumer socialmedia posts, and/or past consumer interactions with the contextualservices delivery system 2, and the like.

Thus one may appreciate that the contextual services delivery module 3and/or any other component of the contextual services delivery system 2may implement machine learning techniques, for example, supervisedlearning techniques, and/or unsupervised learning techniques. In thismanner, the contextual services delivery system 2 may dynamicallyrespond to context environments 18 and may respond differently todifferent consumers, or differently to a given consumer in a givencontext environment 18 in view of that consumer's changing behaviorand/or past behavior, purchases, social media posts, etc. Thus thecontextual services delivery module 3 may deliver contextual servicesfrom a services repository 4 to smartphone 14 and/or a POS terminal 16,in response to processing by a contextual services delivery processor 6,wherein the processing includes machine learning algorithms and alsoaccounts for past consumer behavior and past contextual servicesdelivery system 2 behavior. As such, the contextual services deliveredmay be tailored to each context environment 18, accounting forhistorical data and performance. The contextual services delivery module3 may determine a correspondence between data from the context database10 with an instruction from a merchant linkage database 8 correspondingto this data and directing the provision of various services. As such, afeedback loop may be established among consumer behavior, the responseof the contextual services delivery module 3 in selecting contextualservices from a services repository 4 for delivery in response to apresent context environment 18 and the data stored in the contextdatabase 10 and/or other sources of data, including historical data.

For example, a consumer who has previously purchased dry wall may beprovided with contextual services suggesting that the consumer purchasepaint whenever he or she enters a home improvement store. Moreover, thecontextual services delivery system 2 may be aware that a competingstore provides better prices on comparable paint based on historicaldata collected over time. Thus, in further embodiments, the consumer maybe provided with contextual services suggesting that the consumerpurchase paint at a competing store. Alternatively, the consumer may beprovided with contextual services comprising an opportunity to requestthat the paint be prepared and held in store, or may be provided a mapto the appropriate aisle, for example, on a smartphone 14.

The contextual services delivery module 3 may consider, for example,available products, social media activity, such as Facebook® activityand/or Twitter® activity, activity of other users, activity of othermerchants, activity of the instant user, activity of an instantmerchant, American Express® internal data, SKU data, sentimentalanalysis of data such as social media activity to determine individualor collective sentiments regarding products and/or merchants, etc., andmay determine contextual services to delivery to a user. Moreover,different contextual services may be ranked for a user in view of userbehavior, American Express® internal data, and merchant linkage database8 data, and may be delivered based on different context environments 18according to machine learning processes as discussed.

With renewed focus on services repository 4, services repository 4 maycomprise contextual services comprising transactional services, displayservices, and authentication services. In this manner, a user'sinteractions with a smartphone 14 and/or a POS terminal 16 may becustomized. Moreover, these interactions may be customized in real timeor substantially real time, e.g., they may be customized as (or close towhen) they occur.

Contextual services may comprise transactional services. Transactionalservices may include the delivery of information regarding availableinventory, the sale of an item, an offer to sell an item, an offer tosell a related and/or complementary good or service, an offer to sell acompeting good or service, an proposed discount, the identification of auser's location and the delivery of other transactional services inresponse there to (e.g., the identification of a user's location bytriangulation and/or iBeacon® systems, and or proximity sensing data),Bluetooth low energy communication systems, GPS systems, near-fieldcommunication systems, the invitation to purchase a warranty, and/ortracking of SKUs purchased or considered for purchase. In variousembodiments, different contextual services may be available depending onthe technical capabilities of a POS terminal 16 and/or a smartphone 14.For example, a user whose location is identified as being at a POSterminal 16 may receive real-time updates (of purchased products,complementary products, upsell products, product information, etc.)displayed on the smartphone 14 as a store clerk scans the items beingpurchased. Moreover, a user whose location is identified as being at aPOS terminal 16 may receive real-time updates targeted to the individualand/or in view of a context environment 18.

Similarly, the contextual services may comprise display services.Display services may include a textual information presentation, agraphical information presentation, an invitation to determine an itemfor purchase via a smartphone 14, an invitation to complete atransaction via a smartphone 14, and/or an invitation to complete atransaction via a point-of sale terminal. In various embodiments,different contextual services may be available depending on thetechnical capabilities of a POS terminal 16 and/or a smartphone 14. Forexample, a POS terminal 16 lacking a graphical display may receive atextual information presentation, but not a graphical informationpresentation.

Furthermore, the contextual services may comprise authenticationservices. In various embodiments, authentication services comprisevarious mechanisms whereby an action is approved by a user and theidentity of the user is confirmed. For example, authentication servicesmay comprise biometric authentication (e.g., fingerprint information),payment card swipe, entry of a pin number, identification of aphotograph, and/or identification of a user by that user's location. Forexample, a user may be authenticated by identification of a photograph,wherein the POS terminal 16 presents a stored photograph of the user andinvites the clerk to verify that the person purchasing the itemsresembles the person in the photograph. In various embodiments, a usermay be authenticated by identification of a user by that user'slocation, wherein the location of the user's smartphone 14 is determinedto be at the front of a checkout line, and a pending transaction isassociated with the user for payment.

In order for contextual services delivery module 3 to provide contextualservices to a user, contextual services delivery module 3 may provideand/or allow the user to register with the contextual services deliverymodule 3. Network 12 may request information from a user, including, forexample, a transaction account number, a transaction account identifier,and/or the like. This information provided by the user may allow and/orenable contextual services delivery module 3 to identify, track, count,and/or otherwise monitor transaction information and/or informationindicative of a transaction that is passed between POS terminal 16and/or smartphone 14, and the contextual services delivery module 3 bynetwork 12.

In various embodiments, contextual services delivery module 3 may beable to particularly identify and/or associate one or more transactionswith a particular user. Moreover, information provided by a user may beused by contextual services delivery module 3 to particularly identifytransactions routed between POS terminal 16 and contextual servicesdelivery module 3 by network 12.

With reference to FIG. 2, contextual services delivery module 3 may beable to identify a customer upon his or her entry into a store. In thismanner, the contextual services delivery module 3 may open a sessionwith the user. For example, a method of instantiating a user session 200may include a customer entering a store (Step 20). An application on theuser's smartphone 14 may recognize a POS terminal 16 in the store, forexample by Bluetooth Low Energy (“BLE”) communication, by cellularcommunication, by Wi-Fi communication, by Near-Field Communication(“NFC”), or by any IEEE 802 standard communications technology, or bycomparing location data derived from the user's smartphone 14, orderived via triangulation to a database of stores having POS terminalscapable of instantiating a user session 200, or by any other method.(Step 22). Subsequently, the application may communicate with the POSterminal 16, identify itself and thus may be said to “check-in” with thePOS terminal 16. (Step 24). A session is subsequently establishedbetween the POS terminal 16 and the smartphone 14, wherein each is awareof the other's presence and information, such that contextual servicesmay be exchanged. For instance, in various embodiments, a subset or allof a store's inventory data may optionally be displayed on thesmartphone 14 (Step 28).

Such inventory data may be searchable, provide comparisons to otherinventories, associate items, determine complementary items, analyzecompeting items, etc. The user may be further permitted to pay foritems, ship items, may be directed to a store having the items and/or alocation within the store where the items are located, and/or to directthat items be held for in-store pickup. As a result, an online presencemay be provided for a store that otherwise would lack a website oronline purchasing and/or inventory searching mechanisms.

Moreover, in further embodiments, such data, as well as anyfunctionality or features of the methods and systems disclosed hereinmay be delivered to a user via network 12 regardless of that user'slocation. For example, a user may be permitted access to inventory datavia a smartphone 14, and/or a web browser, regardless of whether theuser is physically in the store.

With reference to FIG. 1B, various methods may be performed by variousdifferent components of the contextual services delivery processor 6.For example, the processor may comprise a merchant linking engine 5, apromotions engine 7, a distribution engine 9, and a settlement engine11. The various engines may be in communication and may perform varioussteps of various methods as discussed further herein.

With reference to FIGS. 1B and 3, contextual services delivery module 3may perform a method consummating a transaction between a user and amerchant. For example, a customer may select a product (Step 30). Themerchant linking engine 5 of the contextual services delivery processor6 may evaluate a merchant linkage database 8 in response to the customerselecting a product. This selection by the user may comprise a contextcharacteristic of a context environment 18. Subsequently, the merchantlinking engine 5 may identify that the context environment 18correspondingly links to a context service from services repository 4that the merchant desires the user to receive (“merchant service”). Themerchant linking engine 5 may communicate this information to apromotions engine 7. A promotions engine 7 may apply zero, one, or anynumber of promotions (e.g., discounts, or purchases of complementaryitems), in response to this information, and direct a distributionengine 9 to display these promotions to a user. Thus, the merchant maybe said to determine a payment amount for that product (Step 32).Subsequently, the distribution engine 9 may display a payment amount tothe user. For example, a distribution engine 9 may distribute theinformation according to a device interaction path 44 and/or a POSinteraction path 46. In other words, the distribution engine 9 maydisplay an amount on the user's smartphone 14 (Step 34). In variousembodiments, the distribution engine 9 may simultaneously display theamount on a POS terminal 16 (Step 40). In response, a customer mayauthenticate the transaction on the smartphone 14 (Step 36) (e.g., by anauthentication service such as biometric fingerprint authentication)and/or may authenticate the transaction on the POS (Step 42) (e.g., byswiping a payment card in a POS terminal 16). The settlement engine 11may process the payment information in response and may subsequentlytransmit a transaction confirmation notifying the merchant, for example,by a message on a POS terminal 16, that payment is successful (Step 38).

At various steps of the process, various different transaction, display,and authentication services may be provided based on different contextenvironments 18. Various steps may be omitted and/or added, and/orvarious steps may be combined among different methods and embodiments.For example, in various embodiments, a predetermined and/or externallydetermined payment amount may be determined and/or authenticated and inresponse, the settlement engine 11 may process the payment informationand may subsequently transmit a transaction confirmation notifying themerchant, for example, by a message on a POS terminal 16, that paymentis successful.

With reference now to FIGS. 1B and 4, contextual services deliverymodule 3 may perform a method consummating a transaction between a userand a merchant, as well as providing a user with an offer in responsebased on the context environment 18. For example, contextual servicesdelivery module 3 may perform a method consummating a transactionbetween a user and a merchant. For example, a merchant linking engine 5of the contextual services delivery processor 6 may evaluate a merchantlinkage database 8 in response to context characteristics comprising acontext environment 18. The merchant linking engine 5 may identify thatthe context environment 18 correspondingly links to a context servicefrom services repository 4 that the merchant linkage database 8indicates that a merchant desires a user to receive. The merchantlinking engine 5 may communicate this information to a promotions engine7. A promotions engine 7 may apply zero, one, or any number ofpromotions (e.g., discounts, or purchases of complementary items), inresponse to this information, and direct a distribution engine 9 todisplay these promotions to a user. Subsequently, the distributionengine 9 may distribute this information to a customer via display on asmartphone 14 or a POS terminal 16. Thus, the customer may receive adiscount offer (Step 48) via a smartphone 14 or a POS terminal 16. Thecustomer may accept this offer (Step 50) by transmitting a message viathe smartphone 14 or the POS terminal 16 to the promotions engine 7. Thepromotions engine 7 may store this acceptance in a non-transitorymemory. Subsequently, the customer may select a product (Step 52). Themerchant linking engine 5 of the contextual services delivery processor6 may evaluate a merchant linkage database 8 in response to the customerselecting a product. This selection by the user may comprise a contextcharacteristic comprising a context environment 18. Subsequently, themerchant linking engine 5 may identify that the context environment 18correspondingly links to a context service from services repository 4that the merchant linkage database 8 indicates that a merchant desires auser to receive. The merchant linking engine 5 may communicate thisinformation to a promotions engine 7. A promotions engine 7 may applythe previously stored promotion in response to this information. Thus,the merchant may be said to determine a payment amount for that product(Step 54), then apply the offer to that amount (Step 56). Subsequently,the distribution engine 9 may display a payment amount to the user. Forexample, a distribution engine 9 may distribute the informationaccording to a device interaction path 68 and/or a POS interaction path70. In other words, the distribution engine 9 may display an amount onthe user's smartphone 14 (Step 58). In various embodiments, thedistribution engine 9 may simultaneously display the amount on a POSterminal 16 (Step 64). In response, a customer may authenticate thetransaction on the smartphone 14 (Step 60) (e.g., by an authenticationservice such as biometric fingerprint authentication), and/or mayauthenticate the transaction on the POS (Step 66) (e.g., by swiping apayment card in a POS terminal 16). The settlement engine 11 may processthe payment information in response and may subsequently notify themerchant, for example, by a message on a POS terminal 16, that paymentis successful (Step 62). At various steps of the process, variousdifferent transaction, display, and authentication services may beprovided based on different context environments 18.

With reference now to FIGS. 1B and 5, contextual services deliverymodule 3 may perform a method consummating a transaction between a userand a merchant, as well as providing a user with an upsell in responsebased on the context environment 18. For example, a customer may selecta product (Step 72). The merchant linking engine 5 of the contextualservices delivery processor 6 may evaluate a merchant linkage database 8in response to the customer selecting a product. This selection by theuser may comprise a context characteristic comprising a contextenvironment 18. Subsequently, the merchant linking engine 5 may identifythat the context environment 18 correspondingly links to a contextservice from services repository 4 that the merchant linkage database 8indicates that a merchant desires a user to receive. The merchantlinking engine 5 may communicate this information to a promotions engine7. A promotions engine 7 may apply zero, one, or any number ofpromotions (e.g., discounts, or purchases of complementary items), inresponse to this information, and direct a distribution engine 9 todisplay these promotions to a user. Thus, the merchant may be said todetermine a payment amount for that product (Step 74). Subsequently, thedistribution engine 9 may display a payment amount to the user. Forexample, a distribution engine 9 may distribute the informationaccording to a device interaction path 102 and/or a POS interaction path98. In other words, the distribution engine 9 may display an amount onthe user's smartphone 14 (Step 76). In various embodiments, thedistribution engine 9 may simultaneously display the amount on a POSterminal 16 (Step 88). Furthermore, the merchant linking engine 5 mayidentify that the context environment 18 correspondingly links to acontext service from services repository 4 that the merchant linkagedatabase 8 indicates that a merchant desires a user to receive. Themerchant linking engine 5 may communicate this information to apromotions engine 7. A promotions engine 7 may apply zero, one, or anynumber of upsell opportunities in response to this information, anddirect a distribution engine 9 to display these upsell opportunities toa user via the user's smartphone 14 (Step 78) or via the POS terminal 16(Step 90). The customer may accept this upsell opportunity (Step 80) bytransmitting a message via the smartphone 14 or may accept this upsellopportunity (Step 92) by transmitting a message via the POS terminal 16.The promotions engine 7 may receive this message and may communicateinstructions to the distribution engine 9 to distribute a modifiedpayment amount on the user's smartphone 14 (Step 82) and/or the POSterminal 16 (Step 94). In response, a customer may at least one of:authenticate the transaction on the smartphone 14 (Step 84), for exampleby an authentication service such as biometric fingerprintauthentication, and/or may authenticate the transaction on the POS (Step96), such as by swiping a payment card in a POS terminal 16. Thesettlement engine 11 may process the payment information in response andmay subsequently notify the merchant, for example, by a message on a POSterminal 16, that payment is successful (Step 86). At various steps ofthe process, various different transaction, display, and authenticationservices may be provided based on different context environments 18.

With reference now to FIGS. 1B and 6, contextual services deliverymodule 3 may perform a method consummating a transaction between a userand a merchant, as well as providing a user with an opportunity toselect among a variety of payment mechanisms in response based on thecontext environment 18. For example, a customer may select a product(Step 104). The merchant linking engine 5 of the contextual servicesdelivery processor 6 may evaluate a merchant linkage database 8, inresponse to the customer selecting a product. This selection by the usermay comprise a context characteristic comprising a context environment18. Subsequently, the merchant linking engine 5 may identify that thecontext environment 18 correspondingly links to a contextual servicefrom services repository 4 that the merchant linkage database 8indicates that a merchant desires a user to receive. The merchantlinking engine 5 may communicate this information to a promotions engine7. A promotions engine 7 may apply zero, one, or any number ofpromotions in response to this information, and direct a distributionengine 9 to display these promotions to a user. Thus, the merchant maybe said to determine a payment amount for that product (Step 106).Subsequently, the distribution engine 9 may display a payment amount tothe user. For example, a distribution engine 9 may distribute theinformation according to a device interaction path 124 and/or a POSinteraction path 122. In other words, the distribution engine 9 maydisplay an amount on the user's smartphone 14 (Step 108). In variousembodiments, the distribution engine 9 may simultaneously display theamount on a POS terminal 16 (Step 118). Furthermore, the merchantlinking engine 5 may identify that the context environment 18correspondingly links to a contextual service from services repository 4that the merchant linkage database 8 indicates that a merchant desires auser to receive. The merchant linking engine 5 may communicate thisinformation to a promotions engine 7. A promotions engine 7 may identifythe availability of multiple transaction accounts for this transactionin response to this information, and direct a distribution engine 9 todisplay different transaction account choices to the user via the user'ssmartphone 14 (Step 110). The customer may select a transaction accountchoice (Step 112) by transmitting a message via the smartphone 14 or maymanually authenticate the transaction at the POS (Step 120), forexample, by swiping a payment card, and thus bypassing the transactionaccount selection step. The promotions engine 7 may receive a customer'sselection of transaction account and may communicate instructions to thesettlement engine 11 which may store the user's account choice innon-transitory memory. Subsequently, a customer may authenticate thetransaction on the smartphone 14 (Step 114), for example by anauthentication service such as biometric fingerprint authentication. Thesettlement engine 11 may recall the stored transaction account choiceand may process the payment information in response. The settlementengine 11 may subsequently notify the merchant, for example, by amessage on a POS terminal 16, that payment is successful (Step 116). Atvarious steps of the process, various different transaction, display,and authentication services may be provided based on different contextenvironments 18.

The phrase “upsell opportunity” shall include any offer for anadditional benefit, opportunity or purchase. For example, an “upsellopportunity” shall include an offer to purchase a higher priced good orservice, a related good or service, a complementary good or service, awarranty, a service plan, services related to a purchase of a good, agood related to a purchase of a service, or any additional transactionor consideration, and the like.

Similarly, the phrase “promotion” shall include an offer for a pricediscount and/or an offer to provide additional and/or higher-qualityitems at the same price or at a lower price, or at a lower unit priceand the like. Thus, it may be said that a promotion is an increase inthe items provided to a customer for a given price, whereas an “upsellopportunity” may be said to be an increase in the amount of currencypaid by the consumer. Accordingly, some upsell opportunities shallinclude promotions and some promotions shall include upsellopportunities.

As used herein, “match”, “corresponds with” or “associated with” orsimilar phrases may include an identical match, a partial match, meetingcertain criteria, matching a subset of data, a correlation, satisfyingcertain criteria, a correspondence, an association, an algorithmicrelationship and/or the like. Similarly, as used herein, “authenticate”or similar terms may include an exact authentication, a partialauthentication, authenticating a subset of data, a correspondence,satisfying certain criteria, an association, an algorithmic relationshipand/or the like.

Any communication, transmission and/or channel discussed herein mayinclude any system or method for delivering content (e.g. data,information, metadata, etc.), and/or the content itself. Moreover, thecontextual services delivery system 2 may provide a standardized APIinterface for POS devices and/or software, merchants and third-partysystems and devices. In this manner, a seamless user experience ispresented, e.g., contextual services may be delivered in a variety ofcontext environments 18 and in systems and in systems of systems havingdifferent devices and technologies. The content may be presented in anyform or medium, and in various embodiments, the content may be deliveredelectronically and/or capable of being presented electronically. Forexample, a channel may comprise a website or device (e.g., Facebook,YouTube®, AppleTV®, Pandora®, xBox®, Sony® Playstation®), a uniformresource locator (“URL”), a document (e.g., a Microsoft Word® document,a Microsoft Excel® document, an Adobe .pdf document, etc.), an “ebook,”an “emagazine,” an application or microapplication (as describedherein), an SMS or other type of text message, an email, facebook,twitter, MMS and/or other type of communication technology. In variousembodiments, a channel may be hosted or provided by a data partner. Invarious embodiments, the distribution channel may comprise at least oneof a merchant website, a social media website, affiliate or partnerwebsites, an external vendor, a mobile device communication, socialmedia network and/or location based service. Distribution channels mayinclude at least one of a merchant website, a social media site,affiliate or partner websites, an external vendor, and a mobile devicecommunication. Examples of social media sites include Facebook®,Foursquare®, Twitter®, MySpace®, LinkedIn®, and the like. Examples ofaffiliate or partner websites include American Express®, Groupon®,LivingSocial®, and the like. Moreover, examples of mobile devicecommunications include texting, email, and mobile applications forsmartphones. In various embodiments and as used herein, a digitalchannel may be any suitable channel available to a user over a network,including for example, a social media channel, an entertainment channel,a service channel, a review channel, a service scheduling channel,and/or the like. The channel may include a user interface and useraccount that may be created by a user. Moreover, the user may be able toaccess the digital channel through a web client on any suitableelectronic device. The digital channel may also be considered anon-traditional purchasing channel (e.g., a channel where informationabout an item may be present, but where the ability to purchase the itemis not traditionally available such as, for example, an item page in asocial media channel where information about an item is available).

The phrases consumer, customer, user, account holder, account affiliate,card member or the like shall include any person, entity, business,government organization, business, software, hardware, machineassociated with a transaction account, buys merchant offerings offeredby one or more merchants using the account and/or who is legallydesignated for performing transactions on the account, regardless ofwhether a physical card is associated with the account. The card membermay include a transaction account owner, a transaction account user, anaccount affiliate, a child account user, a subsidiary account user, abeneficiary of an account, a custodian of an account, and/or any otherperson or entity affiliated or associated with a transaction account. Invarious embodiments, no physical card is associated with the account,and moreover, the user may not be a card member or have an account, butrather may access the system via a Facebook® profile, or via a webbrowser, for example, in order to access functionality of the contextualservices delivery system 2 without being a card member.

Phrases and terms similar to “account”, “account number”, “account code”or “consumer account” as used herein, may include any device, code(e.g., one or more of an authorization/access code, personalidentification number (“PIN”), Internet code, other identification code,and/or the like), number, letter, symbol, digital certificate, smartchip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric or otheridentifier/indicia suitably configured to allow the consumer to access,interact with or communicate with the system. The account number mayoptionally be located on or associated with a rewards account, chargeaccount, credit account, debit account, prepaid account, telephone card,embossed card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card,transponder, radio frequency card or an associated account.

In various embodiments, a transaction account may be may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transactionincluding, for example, a charge account, a credit account, a bankaccount (e.g., a checking or savings account), and/or the like. Thetransaction account may include a transaction instrument such as acharge card, credit card, debit card, awards card, prepaid card,telephone card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card,transponder, radio frequency card and/or the like having an accountnumber, which cardholders typically present to Service Establishments(SEs), as part of a transaction, such as a purchase. An “accountnumber”, as used herein, includes any device, code, number, letter,symbol, digital certificate, smart chip, digital signal, analog signal,biometric or other identifier/indicia suitably configured to allow theconsumer to interact or communicate with the system, such as, forexample, authorization/access code, personal identification number(PIN), Internet code, other identification code, and/or the like whichis optionally located on card. The account number may be distributed andstored in any form of plastic, electronic, magnetic, radio frequency,wireless, audio and/or optical device capable of transmitting ordownloading data from itself to a second device. A customer accountnumber may be, for example, a sixteen-digit credit card number, althougheach credit provider has its own numbering system, such as thefifteen-digit numbering system used by American Express. Each company'scredit card numbers comply with that company's standardized format suchthat the company using a sixteen-digit format will generally use fourspaced sets of numbers, as represented by the number “0000 0000 00000000”. The first five to seven digits are reserved for processingpurposes and identify the issuing bank, card type, and etc. In thisexample, the last sixteenth digit is used as a sum check for thesixteen-digit number. The intermediary eight-to-ten digits are used touniquely identify the customer.

In various embodiments, an account number may identify a consumer. Inaddition, in various embodiments, a consumer may be identified by avariety of identifiers, including, for example, an email address, atelephone number, a cookie id, a radio frequency identifier (“RFID”), abiometric, and the like. As used herein, a biometric may include auser's voice, fingerprint, facial, ear, signature, vascular patterns,DNA sampling, hand geometry, sound, olfactory, keystroke/typing, iris,retinal or any other biometric relating to recognition based upon anybody part, function, system, attribute and/or other characteristic, orany portion thereof.

The system may include or interface with any of the foregoing accounts,devices, and/or a transponder and reader (e.g. RFID reader) in RFcommunication with the transponder (which may include a fob), orcommunications between an initiator and a target enabled by near fieldcommunications (NFC). Typical devices may include, for example, a keyring, tag, card, cell phone, wristwatch or any such form capable ofbeing presented for interrogation. Moreover, the system, computing unitor device discussed herein may include a “pervasive computing device,”which may include a traditionally non-computerized device that isembedded with a computing unit. Examples may include watches, Internetenabled kitchen appliances, restaurant tables embedded with RF readers,wallets or purses with imbedded transponders, etc. Furthermore, a deviceor financial transaction instrument may have electronic andcommunications functionality enabled, for example, by: a network ofelectronic circuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto orwithin the transaction instrument (and typically referred to as a “smartcard”); a fob having a transponder and an RFID reader; and/or near fieldcommunication (NFC) technologies.

Phrases and terms similar to “transaction account” may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transaction.

Phrases and terms similar to “financial institution” or “transactionaccount issuer” may include any entity that offers transaction accountservices. Although often referred to as a “financial institution,” thefinancial institution may represent any type of bank, lender or othertype of account issuing institution, such as credit card companies, cardsponsoring companies, or third party issuers under contract withfinancial institutions. It is further noted that other participants maybe involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution.

Phrases and terms similar to “transaction” may include any purchase,exchange, lease, rental, deal, agreement, authorization, settlement,information exchange, item exchange, a record of charge (or “ROC”),record of transaction (“ROT”), including all related data and metadata,and/or the like. Moreover, the transaction, information associated withthe transaction, and/or a record associated with the transaction maycomprise a unique identifier associated with a transaction. Atransaction may, in various embodiments, be performed by one or moreaccount holders using a transaction account. The transaction account maybe associated with a transaction instrument such as, for example, a giftcard, a debit card, a credit card, and the like. A record associatedwith the transaction may, in addition, contain details such as location,merchant name or identifier, transaction amount, transaction date,account number, account security pin or code, account expiry date, andthe like for the transaction.

Phrases and terms similar to “business” or “merchant” may be usedinterchangeably with each other and shall mean any person, entity,distributor system, software and/or hardware that is a provider, brokerand/or any other entity in the distribution chain of items. For example,a merchant may be a grocery store, a retail store, a travel agency, aservice provider, an on-line merchant or the like.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may beimplemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.However, the manipulations performed by embodiments were often referredto in terms, such as matching or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases,in any of the operations described herein. Rather, the operations may bemachine operations. Useful machines for performing the variousembodiments include general-purpose digital computers or similardevices.

In various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward one or morecomputer systems capable of carrying out the functionality describedherein. The computer system includes one or more processors, such asprocessor. The processor is connected to a communication infrastructure(e.g., a communications bus, cross over bar, or network). Varioussoftware embodiments are described in terms of this exemplary computersystem. After reading this description, it will become apparent to aperson skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement variousembodiments using other computer systems and/or architectures. Computersystem can include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, andother data from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffernot shown) for display on a display unit.

Conventional data networking, application development and otherfunctional aspects of the systems (and components of the individualoperating components of the systems) may not be described in detailherein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown in the various figurescontained herein are intended to represent exemplary functionalrelationships and/or physical couplings between the various elements. Itshould be noted that many alternative or additional functionalrelationships or physical connections may be present in a practicalsystem.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., Windows operating system, UNIX®, Linux®, Solaris®, MacOS,etc.) as well as various conventional support software and driverstypically associated with computers.

Computer system also includes a main memory, such as for example randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. Thesecondary memory may include, for example, a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drivereads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-knownmanner. Removable storage unit represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape,optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storagedrive. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit includes acomputer usable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareand/or data.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, and other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to computer system.

Computer system may also include a communications interface.Communications interface allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system and external devices. Examples of communicationsinterface may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernetcard), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and datatransferred via communications interface are in the form of signalswhich may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signalscapable of being received by communications interface. These signals areprovided to communications interface via a communications path (e.g.,channel). This channel carries signals and may be implemented usingwire, cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link, wireless and other communications channels.

The terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” and“computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such asremovable storage drive and a hard disk installed in hard disk drive.These computer program products provide software to computer system.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory and/or secondary memory. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features asdiscussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed,enable the processor to perform the features of various embodiments.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of thecomputer system.

In various embodiments, software may be stored in a computer programproduct and loaded into computer system using removable storage drive,hard disk drive or communications interface. The control logic(software), when executed by the processor, causes the processor toperform the functions of various embodiments as described herein. Invarious embodiments, hardware components such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware statemachine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications comprise Internet browsing softwareinstalled within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,tablets, hand held computers, personal digital assistants, set-topboxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, personal computers, such as iPads, iMACs, and MacBooks,kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS) devices and/or terminals,televisions, or any other device capable of receiving data over anetwork. A web-client may run Microsoft Internet Explorer®, MozillaFirefox®, Google® Chrome, Apple® Safari, or any other of the myriadsoftware packages available for browsing the internet.

Practitioners will appreciate that a web client may or may not be indirect contact with an application server. For example, a web client mayaccess the services of an application server through another serverand/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In anexemplary embodiment, access is through a network or the Internetthrough a commercially-available web-browser software package.

In various embodiments, components, modules, and/or engines of systemsmay be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-apps aretypically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a Palm® mobile operating system, a Windows®mobile operating system, an Android® Operating System, Apple® iOS, aBlackberry® operating system and the like. The micro-app may beconfigured to leverage the resources of the larger operating system andassociated hardware via a set of predetermined rules which govern theoperations of various operating systems and hardware resources. Forexample, where a micro-app desires to communicate with a device ornetwork other than the mobile device or mobile operating system, themicro-app may leverage the communication protocol of the operatingsystem and associated device hardware under the predetermined rules ofthe mobile operating system. Moreover, where the micro-app desires aninput from a user, the micro-app may be configured to request a responsefrom the operating system which monitors various hardware components andthen communicates a detected input from the hardware to the micro-app.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem or communications (e.g., electronic) system or method whichincorporates hardware and/or software components. Communication amongthe parties may be accomplished through any suitable communicationchannels, such as, for example, a telephone network, an extranet, anintranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point of sale device,personal digital assistant (e.g., iPhone®, Palm Pilot®, Blackberry®),cellular phone, kiosk, etc.), online communications, satellitecommunications, off-line communications, wireless communications,transponder communications, local area network (LAN), wide area network(WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networked or linked devices,keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication or data inputmodality. Moreover, although the system is frequently described hereinas being implemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, the systemmay also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, anytunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or any number of existing orfuture protocols. If the network is in the nature of a public network,such as the Internet, it may be advantageous to presume the network tobe insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specific information related tothe protocols, standards, and application software utilized inconnection with the Internet is generally known to those skilled in theart and, as such, need not be detailed herein.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish Networks®, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network may beimplemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. Moreover, the system contemplates the use,sale or distribution of any items, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf (lastvisited May 2014), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

Phrases and terms similar to an “item” may include any good, service,information, experience, data, discount, rebate, points, virtualcurrency, content, access, rental, lease, contribution, account, credit,debit, benefit, right, reward, points, coupons, credits, monetaryequivalent, anything of value, something of minimal or no value,monetary value, non-monetary value and/or the like. Moreover, the“transactions” or “purchases” discussed herein may be associated with anitem. Furthermore, a “reward” may be an item.

Phrases and terms similar to “transaction” may include any purchase,authorization, settlement, a record of charge (or “ROC”), record oftransaction (“ROT”) and/or the like. Moreover, the transaction,information associated with the transaction, and/or a record associatedwith the transaction may comprise a unique identifier associated with atransaction. A transaction may, in various embodiments, be performed bya one or more members using a transaction account, such as a transactionaccount associated with a transaction account such as, for example, agift card, a debit card, a credit card, and the like. A recordassociated with the transaction may, in addition, contain details suchas location, merchant name or identifier, transaction amount,transaction date, account number, account security pin or code, accountexpiry date, and the like for the transaction.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PM, GPG (GnuPG), and symmetric andasymmetric cryptosystems.

The computing unit of the web client may be further equipped with anInternet browser connected to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions originating at a web client may pass through a firewall inorder to prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.Further, additional firewalls may be deployed between the varyingcomponents of CMS to further enhance security.

Firewall may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured toprotect CMS components and/or enterprise computing resources from usersof other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured to limit orrestrict access to various systems and components behind the firewallfor web clients connecting through a web server. Firewall may reside invarying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based,access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Firewall may beintegrated within a web server or any other CMS components or mayfurther reside as a separate entity. A firewall may implement networkaddress translation (“NAT”) and/or network address port translation(“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunneling protocols tofacilitate secure communications, such as those used in virtual privatenetworking. A firewall may implement a demilitarized zone (“DMZ”) tofacilitate communications with a public network such as the Internet. Afirewall may be integrated as software within an Internet server, anyother application server components or may reside within anothercomputing device or may take the form of a standalone hardwarecomponent.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS),Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT webserver software, a Microsoft SQL Server database system, and a MicrosoftCommerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or MicrosoftSQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be usedto provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database managementsystem. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used in conjunctionwith a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and the Perl, PHP,and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, andthe like. A server may include a web service that receives a requestfrom a web server, the request including a URL(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address (123.56.789.234).The web server retrieves the appropriate web pages and sends the data orapplications for the web pages to the IP address. Web services areapplications that are capable of interacting with other applicationsover a communications means, such as the internet. Web services aretypically based on standards or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDLand UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, and arecovered in many standard texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES:A ROADMAP FOR THE ENTERPRISE (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WebSphereMQTM (formerly MQSeries) by IBM, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language with the various algorithms being implemented withany combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines orother programming elements. Further, it should be noted that the systemmay employ any number of conventional techniques for data transmission,signaling, data processing, network control, and the like. Stillfurther, the system could be used to detect or prevent security issueswith a client-side scripting language. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

As used herein, the term “end user”, “consumer”, “customer”,“cardmember”, “business” or “merchant” may be used interchangeably witheach other, and each shall mean any person, entity, governmentorganization, business, machine, hardware, and/or software. A bank maybe part of the system, but the bank may represent other types of cardissuing institutions, such as credit card companies, card sponsoringcompanies, or third party issuers under contract with financialinstitutions. It is further noted that other participants may beinvolved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution, but these participants are not shown.

Each participant is equipped with a computing device in order tointeract with the system and facilitate online commerce transactions.The customer has a computing unit in the form of a personal computer,although other types of computing units may be used including laptops,notebooks, hand held computers, set-top boxes, cellular telephones,touch-tone telephones and the like. The merchant has a computing unitimplemented in the form of a computer-server, although otherimplementations are contemplated by the system. The bank has a computingcenter shown as a main frame computer. However, the bank computingcenter may be implemented in other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PCserver, a network of computers located in the same of differentgeographic locations, or the like. Moreover, the system contemplates theuse, sale or distribution of any items, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein

The merchant computer and the bank computer may be interconnected via asecond network, referred to as a payment network. The payment networkwhich may be part of certain transactions represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Thepayment network is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet® and the Veriphone® networks.

The electronic commerce system may be implemented at the customer andissuing bank. In an exemplary implementation, the electronic commercesystem is implemented as computer software modules loaded onto thecustomer computer and the banking computing center. The merchantcomputer does not require any additional software to participate in theonline commerce transactions supported by the online commerce system.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, a processing apparatus executing upgraded software, astandalone system, a distributed system, a method, a data processingsystem, a device for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, any portion of the system or a module may take the form ofa processing apparatus executing code, an internet based embodiment, anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of theinternet, software and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable program code means embodied in the storagemedium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized,including hard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storagedevices, and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

Functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of steps for performing the specified functions, andprogram instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described herein may comprisein any number of configurations including the use of windows, webpages,web forms, popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be furtherappreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated and described may becombined into single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded forthe sake of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and describedas single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/orwindows but have been combined for simplicity.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” should be construed toexclude only those types of transitory computer-readable media whichwere found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the disclosureincludes a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied ascomputer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier,such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. Allstructural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those ofordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by referenceand are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, itis not necessary for a device or method to address each and everyproblem sought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it to beencompassed by the present claims.

Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the presentdisclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless ofwhether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited inthe claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under theprovisions of 35 U.S.C. 112 (f) unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Therefore, the following is claimed:
 1. A method comprising:identifying, by a computer based system, a mobile device of a userentering a store location based at least in part on a point of sale(POS) terminal at the store location detecting the mobile device bywireless communication; causing, by the computer based system, a displayof an inventory of products for the store location on the mobile device;receiving, by the computer based system, a selection of a product forthe user, the product comprising a context characteristic; causing, bythe computer based system, a display of a payment amount for the producton the mobile device; selecting, by the computer based system, anadditional product for the user based at least in part on the contextcharacteristic of the product; causing, by the computer based system, adisplay of an update for the additional product on the mobile device;receiving, by the computer based system, an acceptance of the additionalproduct from the mobile device; and modifying, by the computer basedsystem, the payment amount at the POS terminal in response to theacceptance of the additional product.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe additional product is at least one of a complementary product or anupsell opportunity.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the display of theadditional product on the mobile device is further based at least inpart on determining a technical capability of the mobile device.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: causing, by the computer basedsystem, a display of the additional product on the POS terminalsimultaneously with the display of the additional product on the mobiledevice.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, bythe computer based system, a modified payment amount instruction to thePOS terminal based at least in part on receiving the acceptance of theadditional product from the mobile device.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the inventory of products are accessible via a searchablemechanism on the mobile device.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, by the computer based system, from the mobiledevice an authentication indication of the payment amount that has beenmodified; and causing, by the computer based system, a display on thePOS terminal that a payment for the payment amount has been processedbased at least in part on receiving the authentication indication.
 8. Asystem, comprising: a computing device that comprises a processor and amemory; program instructions stored in the memory that, when executed bythe processor, cause the computing device to at least: identify a mobiledevice of a user entering a store location based at least in part on apoint of sale (POS) terminal at the store location detecting the mobiledevice by wireless communication; cause a display of an inventory ofproducts for the store location on the mobile device; receive aselection of a product for the user, the product comprising a contextcharacteristic; cause a display of a payment amount for the product onthe mobile device; select an additional product based at least in parton the context characteristic of the product; cause a display of anupdate for the additional product on the mobile device; receive anacceptance of the additional product from the mobile device; and modifythe payment amount at the POS terminal in response to the acceptance ofthe additional product.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the additionalproduct is at least one of a complementary product or an upsellopportunity.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the display of theadditional product on the mobile device is further based at least inpart on determining a technical capability of the mobile device.
 11. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the program instructions, when executed bythe processor, cause the computing device to at least: cause a displayof the additional product on the POS terminal simultaneously with thedisplay of the additional product on the mobile device.
 12. The systemof claim 8, wherein the program instructions, when executed by theprocessor, cause the computing device to at least: transmit a modifiedpayment amount instruction to the POS terminal based at least in part onreceiving the acceptance of the additional product from the mobiledevice.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the inventory of products areaccessible via a searchable mechanism on the mobile device.
 14. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the program instructions, when executed bythe processor, cause the computing device to at least: receive from themobile device an authentication indication of the payment amount thathas been modified; and cause a display of a notification on the POSterminal, the notification indicating that a payment for the paymentamount has been processed based at least in part on receiving theauthentication indication.
 15. The system of claim 8, wherein thecontext characteristic comprises a date and time of a transaction or atransaction categorization.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium embodying program instructions executable in a computing devicethat, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing deviceto at least: identify a mobile device of a user entering a storelocation based at least in part on a point of sale (POS) terminal at thestore location detecting the mobile device by wireless communication;cause a display of an inventory of products for the store location onthe mobile device; receive a selection of a product for the user, theproduct comprising a context characteristic; cause a display of apayment amount for the product on the mobile device; select anadditional product based at least in part on the context characteristicof the product; cause a display of an update for the additional producton the mobile device; receive an acceptance of the additional productfrom the mobile device; and modify the payment amount at the POSterminal in response to the acceptance of the additional product. 17.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein theadditional product is at least one of a complementary product or anupsell opportunity.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 16, wherein the display of the additional product on the mobiledevice is further based at least in part on determining a technicalcapability of the mobile device.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the program instructionswhen executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to atleast: cause a display of the additional product on the POS terminalsimultaneously with the display of the additional product on the mobiledevice.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the program instructions when executed by the computing device,cause the computing device to at least: transmit a modified paymentamount instruction to the POS terminal based at least in part onreceiving the acceptance of the additional product from the mobiledevice.